|
The Daily Telegraph (LONDON)
May 15, 2007 Tuesday
REGULATION Unlimited fines threat to tackle rogue traders
Richard Tyler Enterprise Editor
NEW powers which allow regulators to impose unlimited fines on rogue traders will be proposed by the Government today.
The Cabinet Office will launch a consultation on the idea as part of a package of measures that are not only designed to reduce red tape for law abiding firms but will crack down hard on repeat offenders.
Hilary Armstrong, the Cabinet Office minister, said: "We will focus on the highest risk businesses and do whatever we can to make
life easier for honest businesses.''
The business community is broadly supportive, although there are concerns over individual proposals like the wider use of on-the-spot fines. The British Retail Consortium has nicknamed these fines, which can be set at up to pounds 5,000, the "new parking ticket''.
It fears that, instead of concentrating on rogue traders, local authority inspectors will look for easy targets, like businesses that make an honest mistake.
The draft Bill, called the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill, is based on the recommendations of Richard Macrory, a barrister and professor of environmental law at University College London, who was asked to conduct a review by Gordon Brown.
Prof Macrory advised that local authorities and regulators should not retain the money they raise from fines to avoid giving them a financial incentive to prosecute.
But he rejected business concerns that giving regulators like the Health & Safety Executive and the Environment Agency more freedom to levy fines would prompt more fines, as they have to meet less strict legal tests than evidence presented to a magistrates court.
Business groups were particularly concerned that small firms would not have the financial resources to challenge a penalty if they felt it was unfair. Prof Macrory said the benefits of a wider range of penalties outweighed these concerns.
"These proposals are not about making it easier to penalise businesses but to create a system of sanctions that is more responsive and proportionate to the nature of the non-compliance,'' he said. "Criminal prosecution should be reserved for serious breaches of regulatory obligations such as cases of deliberate, reckless or repeated non-compliance.''
Agencies like the Health & Safety Executive have long argued that they should have greater powers to reduce the financial incentive for employers to break the law. The Government hopes the draft Bill, called the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill, will become law by the end of the year.
To regulate the regulators, the Cabinet Office is also proposing a new statutory code of practice based on the idea that inspectors' actions should be proportionate and risk-based. It will also appoint the eight members of the new Local Better Regulation Office, whose job it is to simplify the rules and bring more consistency to their enforcement on the ground.
The new body will not only build on the recommendations of a review by Peter Rogers, chief executive of Westminster City Council, but will oversee the rationalisation of 60 central government "key policy areas'', which local authorities are judged against, down to six "high-risk'' national priorities.
These will be: air quality, alcohol licensing, hygiene of food businesses, improving health in the workplace, fair trading, and animal and public health.
Regulations that are not seen as a priority for local authorities include water supplies, radiation monitoring, taxi licensing and the removal of travellers' camps.
________________________
|
Login
Register
FAQ
.They think we all come from a cesspit 
